Legal recruitment FAQ, for hiring firms and candidates alike.

No. Working with us is free for candidates — we are paid by the hiring firm or company. You will never be asked for a fee, a deposit or a subscription. Our role is to represent your interests well and confidentially.

Yes. We never circulate your CV without your explicit permission for each specific opportunity, and we will not approach your current employer or anyone in your network without your say-so. Discretion protects your reputation and your leverage; for senior moves it is non-negotiable. You can submit your CV confidentially or simply start a conversation.

Often, yes. Many of the best moves go to people who were not on the market. A confidential conversation costs you nothing, keeps you informed about your value and the opportunities you would not otherwise see, and means that when the right mandate appears we already understand what would — and would not — move you. Join the talent network to stay in touch on your terms.

Accurately and in your interest. We brief you fully on the role, the firm and the people before any introduction, never overstate a mandate to win your interest, and never share more about you than you have agreed. We coach on process where useful but we do not script you — the fit has to be real on both sides for the move to last.

Compensation depends on practice, seniority, market, firm type and hours, so we publish directional benchmarks rather than a single figure (as of 2026; varies by market, firm, sector and hours). For the one widely-cited hard number set — the standardised first-year-through-senior associate pay ladder at large US firms — see our BigLaw associate salary scale for 2026. For partners, in-house and compliance roles, where pay is more individually negotiated, we share live market context during a conversation and draw on the authoritative sources below.

Senior and specialist legal talent: partners, associates and counsel, in-house and general counsel, compliance professionals, legal-operations leaders and international lawyers. If your area is not listed, it is still worth a conversation — we recruit across the whole legal sector.

A consultant reviews it, and if there is a likely fit now or on the horizon we reach out for a confidential conversation about what you want from your next move. If there is nothing right immediately, we keep you in mind — with your consent — for future mandates rather than pushing you toward a role that does not fit. You can submit your CV whenever you are ready.

A retained or engaged search runs as a structured project, not a CV stream. We start by understanding the mandate — the practice, the book of business or department gap, the cultural fit and the constraints — then map the relevant market, approach suitable candidates discreetly (including those who are not actively looking), assess them against the brief, and present a short, qualified shortlist. We manage the process through interviews, references, conflict and book-of-business diligence, offer and onboarding. Our methodology explains each stage in detail.

Contingency recruiters are paid only if you hire a candidate they introduce, which incentivises volume and speed over fit. Retained or engaged search means the firm commits to a defined mandate and is partly compensated for the work of the search itself, which buys depth: full market mapping, discreet approaches to passive candidates, and proper assessment. For senior and confidential roles — lateral partners, general counsel, compliance and legal-operations leadership — we work on an engaged basis. See how we work with law firms and how we work with companies.

The hiring firm or company pays the fee. Candidates never pay us — our duty of care to a candidate is never compromised by who writes the cheque. Fees are agreed in writing before a search begins and are typically structured as a percentage of first-year total compensation, varying with seniority, difficulty and exclusivity. We do not publish a fixed rate card because every mandate is scoped individually; contact us for a clear, written proposal.

It varies by seniority, practice and market. As a directional guide (as of 2026; varies by market, firm, sector and hours): senior associate and counsel searches often resolve in roughly 6–12 weeks, while lateral partner, general counsel and practice-group lift-out mandates — which involve conflict checks, book-of-business diligence and careful confidentiality — commonly run 3–6 months or longer. We set a realistic timeline at kickoff and report progress against it rather than promising speed we cannot control.

Confidentiality is the default, not an option. We can run a search without naming your firm until a candidate is qualified and under NDA, brief candidates on a need-to-know basis, and avoid approaching anyone whose movement could create conflict or signal your intentions to the market. For sensitive replacements or pre-merger hires, we agree the disclosure protocol up front and stick to it.

Yes. For lateral and practice-group moves we assess portability of business early — which clients are genuinely the candidate's, which are institutional, and what is realistically transferable — and we coordinate conflict checks with your office so surprises surface before, not after, an offer. This diligence is central to lateral partner recruiting and is one reason engaged search outperforms a rented candidate list.

Yes. We are US-anchored but internationally connected, placing lawyers and legal leaders across multiple markets. International searches add jurisdiction, qualification and cross-border conflict considerations, which we build into the brief. See our locations for where we are most active.

Across the legal sector only: lateral partners and practice groups, associates and counsel, general and deputy general counsel, compliance and regulatory leaders, legal-operations and legal-technology talent, interim and fractional counsel, law-firm management and the legal C-suite, and board and advisory appointments. Browse the full range from for law firms and for companies.

No. Working with us is free for candidates — we are paid by the hiring firm or company. You will never be asked for a fee, a deposit or a subscription. Our role is to represent your interests well and confidentially.

Yes. We never circulate your CV without your explicit permission for each specific opportunity, and we will not approach your current employer or anyone in your network without your say-so. Discretion protects your reputation and your leverage; for senior moves it is non-negotiable. You can submit your CV confidentially or simply start a conversation.

Often, yes. Many of the best moves go to people who were not on the market. A confidential conversation costs you nothing, keeps you informed about your value and the opportunities you would not otherwise see, and means that when the right mandate appears we already understand what would — and would not — move you. Join the talent network to stay in touch on your terms.

Accurately and in your interest. We brief you fully on the role, the firm and the people before any introduction, never overstate a mandate to win your interest, and never share more about you than you have agreed. We coach on process where useful but we do not script you — the fit has to be real on both sides for the move to last.

Compensation depends on practice, seniority, market, firm type and hours, so we publish directional benchmarks rather than a single figure (as of 2026; varies by market, firm, sector and hours). For the one widely-cited hard number set — the standardised first-year-through-senior associate pay ladder at large US firms — see our BigLaw associate salary scale for 2026. For partners, in-house and compliance roles, where pay is more individually negotiated, we share live market context during a conversation and draw on the authoritative sources below.

Senior and specialist legal talent: partners, associates and counsel, in-house and general counsel, compliance professionals, legal-operations leaders and international lawyers. If your area is not listed, it is still worth a conversation — we recruit across the whole legal sector.

A consultant reviews it, and if there is a likely fit now or on the horizon we reach out for a confidential conversation about what you want from your next move. If there is nothing right immediately, we keep you in mind — with your consent — for future mandates rather than pushing you toward a role that does not fit. You can submit your CV whenever you are ready.